• IN all the idiocy that surrounds our society there is now a shining beacon that is restored.

This is the Basil Spence building at Swiss Cottage which has been a public library for around 60 years.

Built so that light can flood into the building, the white interior reflects light which reduces the need for electricity.

The building has a large computer section to cater for the digital among us. On the second floor is a café called The Newsroom with delicious drinks and food to suit every taste!

The high point of the library is the number of “bons mots” glazed into the glass on the ground floor. A few of these will serve to indicate how thoughtful our predecessors were:

• “Knowledge is power” – Sir Francis Bacon

• “Never judge a book by its movie” – JW Egan

• “We all have ability. The difference is how we use it” – Stevie Wonder

• “Prefer knowledge to wealth, for the one is transitory, the other perpetual” – Socrates

• “I find television very educational; the moment somebody turns it on, I go into the library and read a good book” – Groucho Marx

• “I think you should only read those books that bite and sting you” – Franz Kafka

• “Education is the best provision for old age” – Aristotle

• “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read” – Groucho Marx.

CHRISTOPHER MASON, NW1